Union University News

Union cracks top 20 in U.S.News annual rankings

JACKSON, Tenn. – Aug. 17, 2007 – Union University has been named one of the South’s top tier universities for the 11th straight year by U.S.News & World Report, moving into the top 20 in its current category for the first time.

Union ranked 20th in the “Southern Universities-Master’s: Top Schools” category, which includes those institutions that provide a full range of undergraduate programs and some master’s level programs. The category includes 574 universities, ranked within four geographic areas – North, South, Midwest and West.

Union jumped five spots in this year’s rankings after moving up 13 spots last year.

“The U.S.News & World Report listings speak volumes about the quality of students at Union University,” Union President David S. Dockery said. “Simultaneously, it is a tribute to the dedicated efforts of our outstanding faculty and staff.”

Among the top tier universities in the South, Union ranked in the top 10 in five subcategories:

Sixth in the “faculty resources” category, which measures such components as the number of classes with fewer than 20 students, faculty salary and the proportion of professors with the highest degree in their fields.

Sixth in the “percent of classes with fewer than 20 students” category.

Sixth in the SAT/ACT score category.

Eighth in the “freshmen in top 25 percent of high school class” ranking.

Ninth in “student selectivity,” which measures such areas as test scores and class rank for incoming students.

Union was 11th in the “student/faculty ratio” category.

Other West Tennessee institutions ranked in the top tier include Christian Brothers University (17th), Freed-Hardeman University (32nd) and the University of Tennessee-Martin (50th).

“We are grateful for this ranking and for the support for the university from friends across the region, particularly our board of trustees,” Dockery said. “We hope to continue to build an institution that exemplifies our commitments to Christ-centered excellence.”